Offshoring from the other side

By Alan R. Earls

01/01/2005

Sivakumar, a Sri Lankan who now works in the U.S., recently published a book that attempts to provide a lighthearted but thought-provoking analysis of the global programming business. In Dude, Did I Steal Your Job? Debugging Indian Computer Programmers, Sivakumar recounts his experiences living and working in the U.S., and in which he offers a defense of Indian programmers.

In an interview, Sivakumar notes that offshoring is not a zero-sum game. “If a company saves money, it doesn’t all go into the CEO’s pocket; it supports additional investment and marketing and can end up benefiting Americans,” he says.

On the other hand, Sivakumar says he has been surprised that American firms haven’t done more to shield their employees from the impact of offshoring. “They should be training their employees and preparing them for the next task,” he says.